Tag Archives: live music

Breaking Benjamin are making their UK debut with a sold-out show at KOKO in London.

The gig, on 27 May, is part of the US band’s first European tour in support of their latest album, ‘Dark Before Dawn’, leading up to their performance at Download Festival on 12 June.

“We’re so very excited to be coming overseas for the first time ever,” the band said in a statement. “Breaking Benjamin is tremendously grateful for all of the support we’ve received from our fans all over the world and we can’t wait to rock out with you all.”

It sounds like the plot of a feel-good Hollywood movie: unsigned band, called up to the big leagues by resurgent indie legends, win over audiences’ hearts. But for The Slow Readers Club it’s their reality.

The Manchester quartet have been invited to support James on an extensive national tour that will see them play the largest venues of their career – rooms like Brixton Academy, Manchester Arena, and, tonight, The Kentish Town Forum. If they’re at all nervous, they don’t let on.

Stuart Staples’ whispered introduction is as on point as the show itself. It’s a “cine-concert” featuring Tindersticks performing their cinematic new album from start to finish, with each track accompanied by a specially commissioned short film. So even as the band members are dwarfed by visuals of raindrops on windows, driving, a late-night swim, taxidermy, and a 1950s wedding, the songs are not. Instead, each clip complements – and sometimes even enhances -.‘The Waiting Room’ experience. By avoiding fixed narratives and literal recreations of the lyrics, these are mood pieces as open to interpretation as the music.